?"A couple," Nick said.
"Dark Dream is worth a lot of money," he said. "Everybody knows that Wyntor is the reason why Dark Dream was created and how it became so big in the first place."
"With Wyntor gone, Dark Dream is just a juicy piece of meat."
The guard looked at Nick suspiciously.
He wasn't sure what it was exactly, but he felt suspicious of Nick.
"Can you elaborate?" the guard asked.
"Well, Dark Dream only managed to gain footing in the city thanks to Wyntor. Without Wyntor's background, Dark Dream would have been consumed by one of the other Manufacturers as soon as we got our first couple of Specters."
"Everybody knows that killing Wyntor means making Kugelblitz their enemy, and no one was willing to take that risk."
"Until now, apparently," Nick added.
The guard kept looking at Nick.
"What about more personal reasons?" he asked.
"Personal reasons?" Nick asked.
"Everything you said so far makes it seem like his identity as Dark Dream's CEO is the only reason why someone would want to kill him. But what if someone had a more personal reason?"
"Like revenge," the man said.
Nick furrowed his brows.
"Hard to tell," he said. "Wyntor and I have worked together for five years, but he always kept his personal life a secret from me."
Nick looked at the corpse for a while.
"Although, there is one person I can think of."
"Yes?" the guard asked.
"Ardum Melfion," Nick said.
This surprised the guard. "His brother?"
Nick nodded. "Well, Dark Dream filed a complaint to the city around three to four years ago. It was a complaint about Cycle, Ardum's Manufacturer business, not having the manpower to suppress their own Specters."
"And naturally, as the CEO of Dark Dream, Wyntor was the one that filed the complaint, and as a result, Dark Dream got all of Cycle's Specters, ruining Ardum's chances of becoming an official heir in the process."
The guard looked at Nick for a while.
He knew exactly what it meant when a Manufacturer complained to the city about another Manufacturer not having enough people to suppress their own Specters.
Such a complaint unveiled the fact that a secret war had been happening and that the war had ended.
"What about you?" the guard asked.
"Me?" Nick asked back.
"You seem quite calm," the guard said. "You act like his death doesn't concern you."
Nick furrowed his brows as he kept looking at the corpse.
"That's because I am more concerned with my own life right now," Nick said.
The guard raised an eyebrow.
"I'm 90% sure that Dark Dream was the reason why Wyntor was killed," Nick said, "and with Wyntor now being dead, his shares of Dark Dream are now mine, which makes me the sole owner of Dark Dream."
The guard's suspicion of Nick skyrocketed after Nick said that sentence.
"And since I am now the sole owner of Dark Dream, I will be their next target," Nick said. "If I die, anyone can just file a complaint, and they would get all of Dark Dream."
"Even more, since Wyntor is now dead, Dark Dream is no longer protected by his family, which means that any random Expert or even Specialist can just kill me in secret without any repercussions."
"You think I did it?" Nick asked as he calmly looked at the guard.
The guard didn't answer.
"Wyntor's death means my death," Nick said.
"With Wyntor gone, what stops any Manufacturer from just secretly assassinating me and taking Dark Dream for themselves?"
"I'm a dead man walking," Nick said.
As the guard thought about what Nick said, his suspicion lessened.
Everything Nick said made sense.
If Nick was truly the sole owner of Dark Dream now, it would only be a matter of time until he was killed.
Yet, the guard just couldn't stop feeling suspicious of Nick.
His mind was telling him that it couldn't have been Nick, but his heart was telling him something else.
A short moment later, Vernon approached Nick.
Vernon looked horrible, and Nick could feel the grief emanating from him.
A father had lost his son.
However, Vernon's suffering didn't mean anything to Nick.
Vernon was the reason why the Dregs had been suffering for decades.
He and Kugelblitz had been the ones who caused so much misery for the people.
Vernon hadn't cared that his policies had doomed thousands of people into a life filled with suffering.
So, why should Nick care about him?
Over the past month, Nick had had a lot of time to think.
And he had come to a couple of decisions.
One of them was regarding Vernon and Kugelblitz.
In the past, Nick had been a bit on the fence regarding this issue.
Yes, Vernon was partially responsible for the pain of the Dregs, but what could he do?
He was just one of the shareholders.
After a lot of thinking, Nick came to a decision regarding that matter.
Vernon was complicit in the suffering of the Dregs.
And people who took advantage of people far weaker than them deserved no mercy.
'I wanted to save a thousand people to repay the debt I owe to Horua,' Nick thought.
'Now, I am responsible for the deaths of a thousand people.'
'I could kill myself, but that would just mean running away from my responsibility.'
'Instead, I will continue living.'
'And I will continue growing.'
Nick looked at the grieving Vernon.
'And when I am finally powerful enough, I will kill everyone that exploits weaker people.'
'I will kill Vernon.'
'I will kill the governor.'
'I will destroy Kugelblitz.'
'I will destroy Anatomy.'
'I will take control of this city, and I will make this city a good place to live in!'
'I've got enough of all of these powerful and rich people causing suffering for thousands of people just so that they can add another zero to their bank account!'
Meanwhile, Vernon sighed.
"Nick, I know it's a bad time right now, but we need to talk about some things."
Nick nodded.
"I understand."
"Sorry for your loss."
